Challenge:

Teaching

Destination:

*Uganda

Departure Dates From:

24/05/2008

The teaching placement in Jinja district has been set up with the assistance of the District Education Officer, (DEO), and local independent education centres, helping us to focus and direct our efforts towards the more needy schools.

The result has been the construction of a varied and exciting programme for both our team of venturers and the communities in which we are working. It is hoped that we will work with the schools that we have made links with over the next few years, establishing a long-term relationship based upon structured and continued participation.

There are thirteen government-funded schools in the district, each of which offers secondary education to children aged from around fourteen to twenty years old. The curriculum is varied, covering mainstream subjects similar to those taught in the UK: mathematics; English; physics; biology; chemistry; geography and history.

Further lessons including agriculture, computer science, accounting and Swahili are offered at some schools. You could ask to focus a lesson teaching a particular subject from one of these. Work is not limited to the confines of the timetabled curriculum. Volunteers would have the chance to throw themselves into extra-curricula activities.

Music, dance and the dramatic arts are favourites and in return for work in these areas you may even learn a few Ugandan moves to impress your friends with back home “ it's all in the hips! Annual music and dance competitions provide a focus for work in this area. Sports are another firm favourite with current sports being played including football, basketball, netball, volleyball and cricket.

One of the schools in which we are currently working has a superb female football team, winning the district women's football tournament in 2005 and being offered the chance to represent Uganda in an East African secondary school tournament.

Location: Our Madvenurer teaching projects are based in Jinja, southern Uganda, located by Lake Victoria on the source of the River Nile. Jinja is a spacious, relaxed town with a market, matatu [a large minibus that acts as a shuttle] park, internet cafes, post office, bars [for cold soft drinks or beers], cafes and small shops that will provide most essentials and a little bit more. Transport is provided by matatus and boda-bodas (bicycles or small motorcycles [pikipikis). Jinja is about one and a half hours away from Kampala, Uganda's more bustling capital, which is home to a lively nightlife.

The area surrounding Jinja is very green, with thick vegetation. itself is renowned for its birdlife and is home to many wild animals, perhaps most famously the gorilla, with half of the worlds population resident within the country. It is possible to access some beautiful scenery in the surrounding areas, and for the more adventurous there is the opportunity to go down the mighty White Nile white water rafting, face the Nile High Bungee jump or go quad biking in nearby Bujigali.

An hour and a half away is Kampala, the vibrant capital of Uganda. There is a wealth of things to do in this attractive city, whether it's browsing around the famous Owino market; indulging in some western luxuries in the shopping centre, or relaxing around a pool in the hot sun. Kampala's bustling nightlife always promises a good night out. The schools are closed for holiday from mid-July and they open again in September and there are no opportunities to teach during these times.

Accommodation: Accommodation is provided in a shared house with a madventurer crew and other venturers who might be working in teaching, healthcare, netball or football coaching or carework. The projects are completed from Monday's to Fridays and there is the opportunity to travel at the weekends.

What's included: All meals, accommodation and transport is provided and our experienced crew arrange airport pick you up's , introduce the project and organise it's structure. They have responsibility to be on-hand for 24 hour support, assistance and to share their insider knowledge of Uganda.